lecture 3 material Flashcards
Introduction to Psychopathology II
What factors are involved in the multidimensional model of psychopathology
Biological influences: genetics, physiological factors, behaviour and feelings and temperament that is inherited
Behavioural influences: what people have learnt since they were born –> pavlovian conditioning, operant conditioning, social learning, prepared learning etc.
Emotional and Cognitive Influences: dis-regulated emotions, coping responses, fight or flight responses, emotional phenomena, implicit memory
Social and interpersonal influences: Cultural factors, gender effects, social support/lack there of
Developmental influences: how different time periods influence our susceptibility to psychopathology including during prenatal development, infancy + toddlerhood, childhood, adolescence, adulthood
What is involved in the Tripartite Model of Emotions
- Emotion and Behaviour: basic patterns of emotional behaviour (freeze when scared, escape, approach, attack) that differ in fundamental ways. Emotional behaviour is a means of communication
- Cognitive Aspects of Emotion: Appraisals, attributions and other ways of processing the world around you that are fundamental to emotional experience
- Physiology of Emotion: Emotion is a brain function involving primitive brain areas. There is a direct connection between these areas and the eyes may allow emotional processing to bypass the influence of higher cognitive processes
Fill in the blank:
1. Emotions are ___
2. Mood is ___
3. Anxiety and Mood disorders are ___
- short lived
- persistent
- chronic
What is the principle of psychopathology
this refers to the principle whereby several paths can lead to any given outcome, and those paths may vary dependent on developmental stage
That is, all these factors can lead to psychopathology and can significantly differ across individuals
E.g., childhood characterised by low parental support and little socialisation may make individuals more susceptible to developing depression in adulthood - by the same token, an adult may develop depression even with a happy childhood, but their depression begins due to access to social support and SES
Explain what is meant by ‘cause vs maintenance’ for psychological disorders
What causes a problem doesn’t necessarily explain why a problem persists
Typically more important to know the maintaining factors as opposed to the initiating factors to treat a problem
What are the two major approaches to classifying mental disorders
- World healthy Organisation’s (WHO) International Classification of Diseases (ICD) –> used by rest of world
- American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) –> used mainly by Americans and Australians
Explain the difference between classification and diagnoses
Classification: involves identifying a group of symptoms that occur together. These groupings must be seperate from other groupings with clear and natural boundaries (i.e. zone of rarity –> means that if a group of symptoms is identified, they must belong to ONE category and NOT OVERLAP with another
Diagnosis: involves placing individual symptoms into one of those categories
For some individuals, it is hard to place their symptoms into just one category or another (i.e. there aren’t clear zones of rarity) –> however in order for diagnosis, symptoms must be placed into said categories which can make it difficult to diagnose people and cause uncertainty
What are categorical vs dimensional approaches to diagnosing psychological disorders
- Classical (or pure) categorical approach – strict
categories (e.g., you either have social anxiety
disorder or you don’t) - Dimensional approach – classification along
dimensions (e.g., different people have varying
amounts of anxiety in social situations)
What are Nomothetic strategies vs Idiographic strategies in diagnosing psychological disorders
- Nomothetic strategy: Often used when identifying a specific psychological
disorder, to make a diagnosis - Idiographic strategy: What is unique about an individual’s personality,
cultural background, or circumstances
What is Reification and why is it an issue in the DSM
Reification = when we equate individuals with their symptoms
List Pro’s of the DSM
- Improved patient care
- Improved scientific study of
mental disorders –> including prevalence, comorbidity,
treatments, outcomes - Summarise distinctive features
and thereby improve
communication among
providers and educators, as
well as the general public - Improved reliability of
diagnoses - Realisation that mental
disorders account for a
substantial burden of disease
List Con’s of the DSM
- Highly heterogeneous
disorders - Lots of comorbidity
- Culturally limited
- Atheoretical
- Biomedical in nature
- Susceptible to reification
- May cause or add to stigma
- Lack of validity (but not invalid)
- Too many categories –> Doesn’t decipher between normal psychological phenomena and
psychopathology
How does the DSM-5 define a psychological disorder
- clinically significant difficulties in thinking, feeling, or behaving
- dysfunction in psychological, developmental, and/or
neurobiological processes - personal distress and/or impairment in functioning
A psychological disorder is NOT:
* a culturally expected reaction to an event
* the result of social deviance or conflict with
society
How do we know if a diagnosis is valid
A diagnosis is valid if it offers:
* a clinical description - what are the general symptoms
* lab research - researchers have to be familiar with the research regarding the disorder
* natural history - how does the disorder persist, how does it develop
* family studies - do these disorders run in the family
What does a Schizophrenia diagnosis entail
- A person is not exhibiting psychotic sxs due to a mood disturbance
or drug - Has a greater than average chance of scoring abnormally on test of
sustained attention and eye tracking - Has a greater than average probability of having first degree relatives
with a schizophrenia spectrum dx - Likely will have a chronic course
- Likely to respond well to medication that blocks the action of dopamine
